He Who Regrets
by Jalaras
Summary: Oriko Mikuni is dead. She died in a massacre at Mitakihara Middle School. She was sure no one would mourn her and nobody would ever care that she had left the world. But she did have one Uncle. What were his thoughts as he buried his niece?


**This is a potential look at one of the people who was left behind in the timeline of Oriko Magica after it was all said and done. I don't know where this came from, it was mostly a writing exercise for me and I hope I did well. **

**Enjoy!**

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He didn't know what she did?

He didn't know why she was there?

He just . . . didn't know.

And perhaps that was the most damning thing of all, she had been his niece for God's sake.

Kimihide Mikuni kept his head bowed as he listened to the Priest speaking over the coffins of those lost in the school terrorist attack. Well, it was being called a terrorist attack, but really nobody could quite agree on what had happened. There seemed to have been some sort of mass hallucination, several of the girls had reported seeing monsters and the like and had been put into rehab (they'd mysteriously begun to agree later on that it was all in their heads, almost as though their memories had been altered, no matter how impossible that was).

He sighed as the man continued his eulogy. One of those coffins up there held the body of his niece, Oriko Mikuni. Many among his family had predicted that she would die young. At times even he himself had wondered why she still clung to life even after everything that had happened to her. His expression grew grimmer as he stared at the ground. Fool, what utter fools they'd all been. What an utter fool he'd been.

He remembered how it had been growing up. He'd learned very early on that his father did not like, nor tolerate those who did not meet his standards or follow in his career path as a politician.

"The Mikuni's have shaped the future of our great nation for generations" he would always say as he waxed on about his great family legacy.

"Even after the Gaijin defeated us and despoiled us, the Mikuni's were still there, guiding our nation back to its feet." His father had always been of a . . . nationalistic sentiment. Kimhide as the oldest son, was always expected to lead the family, and consequently, his siblings, forward as the next generation of Mikuni Politicians.

It was strenuous to say the least but Kimhide endured and, eventually, had thrived. He was his father's son in regards to political skill. But for all that he benefited from learning from his father, he never could quite be him. Because, for all he admired his father's political acumen, he never could bring himself to agree with what he did to Kimihide's younger brother.

While it had been apparent from a young age that Kimihide had inherited his father's skills and temperament when it came to politics, his brother, Hisaomi, had obviously not. It only became more and more obvious as he grew older that he didn't have the cunning nature needed to survive their father's political expectations. Kimihide sympathized, far more that their other siblings he suspected, but he was young and bore the weight of his father's expectations even more than his brother. Though, did that really justify his silence when his father had disowned Hisaomi?

He closed his eyes, the answer was plain as day to him. No. No it didn't. Coward. Always the coward he was, and now look what it cost him. He opened his eyes to see the final price and couldn't look away, no matter how much he wanted to. The coffin transfixed him with all the unanswered questions and lost opportunities it presented.

He may have found peace with his lot in life, with the job and path his father had laid out for him, come to enjoy it even, but Hisaomi never did. He was successful in other areas, but never in the places that their father had valued. Their father had been decent enough to not disown him until he'd had a stable job. But then he'd made it clear to expect no more help from him, and the rest of the family had just stood by and watched.

Damn him. Damn his father. He'd put the weight of his expectations upon his children from the moment of their birth and Kimihide could see the results. His sisters were shallow and spiteful. Hateful of foreigners and the lower classes, and were only interested in being trophy wives for other politicians whom they could influence into his father's political ring. He himself was little better, too bound to his father and to his family to do much more than think differently to himself. The only decent thing he could really say about himself was that he was at least attending his niece's funeral. He hadn't even done that for his brother.

His brother . . . he'd been crushed underneath his father's expectations, never able to measure up. And perhaps that was why he'd stolen the money. In his own way, was he trying to do something radical to impress his father? Kimihide suspected that to be part of the reason, the other part being his hope for his daughter. Hisaomi's hope that Oriko could succeed where he'd failed.

Well . . . so much for hope.

Oriko, Kimihide hadn't known her well. Better than the rest of the family, but not well. But what little he knew made him sad. She was talented in the extreme, but alone. So alone. He should've done something, he'd been trying to work up the courage to get to know her better. That what why he'd been so fast on the scene at the school after the event. But too little, too late.

She might not have even wanted his friendship. He wouldn't blame her after he threw his brother under the bus when his corruption had become public. It had been automatic, the family name had had to be protected and anyway, Hisaomi was dead.

He wouldn't make excuses for his brother. What he'd done was wrong, and as he thought this a surge of anger burst through Kimihide. The embezzling he could understand in a way. At times, he'd suspected his father of similar things, possibly worse. The suicide was inexcusable. No matter how badly he'd been feeling, no matter how much his reputation would've nosedived, Hisaomi had been all that Oriko had had left, and he left her holding the bag.

Idiot, and now look what that bag had done to Oriko. It had killed her. Killed the best thing Hisaomi had ever done. A tear leaked onto Kimihide's eye and he blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of it, he was in public and had an image to mainta-.

He froze.

Then with a shrug, he let the tear fall, and didn't struggle as more leaked from his eyes and fell from his chin towards the ground. He sniffed quietly as the Eulogy continued on to its end. Finally, the Priest gave a final call before they closed the coffins and everyone stood. Families and friends of the dead moved forward and Kimihide moved towards his niece. But to his surprise, another person got there before him. A blue-haired girl strode up to the open casket of Oriko and stared down at her. As Kimihide came up beside her, he was surprised to see that her face was tight, as though she was biting back something hateful or stopping herself from striking the body in front of her.

After a few moments, she hadn't seemed to notice him, so he coughed. She blinked and looked around at him.

"Did you know my niece?" He asked cautiously.

The girl blinked again, "your niece?" She said, sounding incredulous. "Someone like her had a family?"

Kimihide looked down, "no . . . I don't think you could really call anyone related to her 'family.' We weren't close, but she was my niece." He looked up. "But did Oriko do something to you?"

The blue-haired girl's face twitched, but she seemed to restrain herself, " . . . doesn't really matter anymore does it?" she said in an almost hollow voice. "She's dead, and can't hurt anyone else ever again."

Kimihide blinked, trying to decipher the meaning of those words. Then he caught the girl glancing over at a casket just a few steps away. A pink haired girl's calm face graced the sky from it. Entirely too young and far too innocent to deserve death, around her was gathered 3 people, obviously mother, father, and a toddler brother. What had Oriko done? Kimihide recalled the impaling wounds that had been found on several people, including the dead girl.

Kimihide's face fell.

"Whatever Oriko did . . . may have done . . . I'm sorry for it" he said quietly, wishing he could give more concrete comfort to those obviously grieving more deeply than he was. The blue-haired girl stared at him, then gave a jerky nod and turned, striding over to the dead girl's casket. There, she joined the family of three in tears.

Kimihide glanced at some of the other coffins. A girl named Komaki Asako was murdered beforehand in what the investigators thought was a connected incident, along with another girl. Kimihide did not know much about her, she hadn't been from a high class family. Glancing over at the coffin just beside Oriko's on the other side, Kimihide beheld a black-haired girl. Kirika Kure's parents had not attended the funeral, but Kimihide had been able to find out that she had been hanging out with Oriko quite a bit. They had apparently been friends, and so, he had arranged them to be buried side by side. At least in death he wouldn't deprive Oriko of the one friend she'd had left.

Some footsteps were heard and he turned to see the family he'd noted before walking up to him. The mother was quietly sobbing while burying her face in her son's small body (the son miraculously seemed to understand what was going on and was dabbing at his mother's tears). The father had tear tracks going down his face as well, but held himself together as he lead his wife forward. He cleared his throat as he stood in front of Kimihide.

"Thank you Mr. Mikuni. We hear you paid for all this" he said in a thick voice.

Kimihide blinked, then looked at his feet. "It's nothing" he said quickly. Truly it was, it was less than nothing compared to all he should've done before. The family turned and strode away. The blue haired girl who had been crying over the pink-haired girl's body, was now joined by a green-haired girl and grey haired boy in a wheelchair. The new girl all but collapsed into the blue-haired girl's arms as she too dissolved into tears. The boy simple stared into the coffin with a downcast expression.

Time was getting on and Kimihide turned back to Oriko's casket. He stared down into her face, somehow so peaceful. He reached out and straightened her bangs and put a hand on her shoulder. It was cold, and he sighed deeply as more tears ran down his face.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly as he stared at her closed eyes.

"I'm sorry you suffered so much and I did nothing. I'm sorry for never making sure you were safe and happy. I'm sorry for how worthless you must've felt. And I know you probably still loved him, so I'm sorry for how much I blame my brother for this."

He paused, was all just going to be about how sorry he was? After a moments consideration, he continued.

"I didn't know you well. But from what I could guess I knew you could be great. I don't know what happened, why you were there. Did you cause the disaster, or were you trying to prevent one? I don't know Oriko. But . . . " he stumbled for a moment, then rallied, "I wish I could've known you better. I wish I could've . . . I wish I would've had some of your courage, so that I could've stepped into my brother's place as your guardian." He sighed deeply. He gazed over the beautiful face that would never again move. He reached down and pulled some flowers he had specially put near each casket. He placed them around her head, framing her face in vibrant color.

"Wherever you are now Oriko, I hope you're at peace. May you find a family far better than the one you had here on earth. . . . . . . Goodbye."

With that, he closed the casket. He turned and, seeing that all others had left the other caskets, signaled the attendees that he was ready. The caskets were loaded up and taken away for cremation. After the deed was done, Kimihide took the remains for Oriko and her friend (whose parents hadn't really wanted to bother with her) and took them back to his brother's mansion. He had taken posession of the land and the building and intended to use it. But nestled in the backwoods behinds the building, far from prying eyes and where no one would disturb it, by a little spring, sat two headstones. He laid his niece and her friend there, in graves beside each other.

He had fought his family over it, his father hadn't wanted Oriko, much less some commoner, laid to rest on Mikuni lands, nevermind that those Mikuni lands had only just become theirs and that they had belonged to Hisaomi and Oriko until then. But Kimihide had refused to budge on the issue and had force his father to allow it (he planned on forcing his father one a few other things too, he was done being the perfect compliant little son, time for a change in leadership and direction for the Mikuni clan).

Even with the hurricane that came a few weeks later, the graves had somehow survived untouched. And as he hiked back to them, Kimihide reflected, that he would probably visit them for the rest of his life.

He didn't ever want to forget her. He owed her that much at least.

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**So yeah, Oriko didn't like her family, but her uncle appeared to be the only one to display something of an interest in her and regret that she'd been shoved aside by the people who should've been there to support her after her father died. Thu sly, this idea took root and formed.**

** Kyoko, Mami, and Yuma do not appear because they had no real relationship with Madoka and Sayaka in this timeline, Homura has vanished into time as this story assumes that the timeline continues on even if she rewinds. That's not really the point of this oneshot, it was to try and show the emotions of a regretful man who wishes he would've done more when he had the chance. **

** As such, this wasn't meant as a 100% culturally accurate representation of Japanese Funerals. I looked it up on Wikipedia and added a few details from the article, but that wasn't really the focus. I'm not Japanese, I'm American and fully admit my ignorance on the subject, but like I said, that wasn't the focus. So I do apologize if I did anything culturally offensive, but I don't think I did aside from omission and strangely western-styled Japanese funeral. Lol.**

** Anyway. What did you think? Please drop a review to tell me what you thought of this oneshot and, if you want to see more content from me, please head over to my other Madoka Magica story "The Unlikely Ally" and tell me what you think of that.**

** Have a great day!**


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